Shadow of the Wisteria Blossoms
by Jaenera Targaryen
Summary: The Matou Clan made a powerful enemy during the Third Holy Grail War, knowledge of which would change the lives of the generations that followed. Now, over half a century since the Third Holy Grail War, retribution comes. As wisteria petals dance in vengeful winds, Shirou Emiya, Rin Tohsaka, and Sakura Tohsaka, must chart a course to follow through the coming storm [DISCONTINUED].
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Shadow of the Wisteria Blossoms

Prologue

 _February 1944_

The winter night lay dark and heavy over Fuyuki City. Fuel shortages caused by the Allied submarine blockade had led to main power being cut after working hours outside of military bases, hospitals, police and fire stations, government buildings, and certain factories. This left the city blacked out with the citizens huddled at home with their families, the only ones up and about being largely policemen and soldiers out on patrol.

And there certainly were more of them than might be expected, the ongoing war notwithstanding. And with good reason: throughout the past weeks, there had been numerous incidents across the city. Explosions, damaged and destroyed infrastructure with no apparent cause, even entire families or communities found slaughtered in the morning…

…to most of the Imperial Japanese Army personnel in Fuyuki, to say nothing of the common citizens and police, it was the work of Allied saboteurs and terror squads, slipped in under cover of darkness to cowardly prey on the hapless citizens and to disrupt the Japanese war effort with the destruction of vital infrastructure and resources. Assistance in dealing with them had been forthcoming nearly from the very first incidents: crack units from the Home Army, and even Waffen-SS from the German Embassy.

At least, that was what most people thought it was.

What they didn't know was that a different war was secretly being fought in the city. The goal was the same, to use the prize of that secret war to turn the tide of the greater conflict being fought across the globe, albeit against different enemies. The Germans sought the prize to be used against the Soviets, and to stop the Red Army's relentless advance towards Berlin especially in the wake of the Battle of Kursk in the previous year. The Japanese for their part, wanted to use the prize of the secret war against the Americans, the US Navy now several steps closer to the Home Islands after a bloody campaign during the previous year had wrested the Pacific Islands from the empire's grasp.

That secret war was the Third Holy Grail War, fought between seven magi as Masters, and their seven summoned Servants. The prize was the Holy Grail of Fuyuki City, a nigh-omnipotent artefact that would grant its victor virtually any wish so long as it remained within the limits of the World.

But in war, there can only be one victor, one whose wish the Grail would grant. It kept any of the Masters from cooperating for long, and driven by greed, they fought, killed, and destroyed indiscriminately with the aim of gaining the Grail and its power for solely themselves. Had the Germans and the Japanese Masters cooperated with one another until they could settle things solely between themselves at the very end, they might have won either way, but it was not to be.

And indeed, war may have also no victor, as would belatedly be discovered to be the case in this conflict. For the vessel of the Holy Grail had been destroyed early on, caught in the ruin of the German Master and their family's failed attempt to manipulate the rules of the Holy Grail War to their advantage.

All the death and destruction, the effort and resources expended in pursuit of victory, be it from foreign magi selfishly seeking power and prestige to the Japanese Master who sought to save his country from the looming shadow of the America juggernaut…it was all for nothing.

But that would only be seen with hindsight, in the near future. But now, even as the war wound down, and most of the Masters and Servants who had fought at the beginning lay dead, the survivors continued to snap and bite at each other, seeking victory for a prize they could never gain or simply to spitefully deny their enemies the prize they sought to have.

In a large mansion in the outskirts of Fuyuki, Japanese soldiers rushed down corridors clutching their weapons. Furniture, broken fencing, and sandbags were piled high against the door, while more sandbags were laid below and around windows, and barricading intersections inside the mansion.

Japanese soldiers manned these strongpoints and barricades, rifles and machine guns ready with ample ammunition at hand. Desperation marked their faces, for they were all but trapped and they knew it. But even then, if they would die, they would die as warriors ought to die, with weapons in their hands, screaming and spitting defiance against their foes instead of silently bowing their heads and succumbing.

In a large room deep within the mansion, a man with a colonel's stars silently finished polishing a sword, and sliding it back in its sheath, sealed the weapon within with red thread intricately if elegantly tied and knotted. Rising to his feet, the colonel walked to the door, and opening it stepped out into the corridor beyond.

A younger man with a captain's stars bowed where he knelt beside the door, and gasped as the colonel held the sword out. "Your Highness…" he whispered.

"The enemy will come soon." Prince Nijou said calmly. "I have no intention of fleeing like a whipped dog with its tail between its legs, nor will I cower as those walking diseases that pass for a 'clan' come. No, I accept responsibility for my failure, and in death show how true nobles fight and die."

The prince paused, closing his eyes and sighing. "Death is inevitable." He said, glancing with a sad smile at the young man who'd been his faithful adjutant first in China, then in Malaya, and finally here, in a war in the shadows of their own homeland. "There's no escaping it."

"Your Highness…please, if it is your will to die with honor on the battlefield then allow me to…"

"Will you accept and obey my final order, Makoto-kun?" Prince Nijou asked.

Captain Makoto Sanou blinked, and falling silent, bowed. "This sword cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of those walking diseases." Prince Nijou said with a note of iron in his voice. "I have no illusions that they would defile my flesh in death, but if so, then so be it!"

"Your Highness…!"

"Vengeance will come for them of that I have no doubt." Prince Nijou said, shaking his head. "I, no, my family will be avenged in time, and those diseases wiped clean from the land. But this sword, the forging of which was ordained by the Emperor Go-Toba nearly a thousand years ago, must never fall into their hands! The shame of letting those diseases defile something that once belonged to a god cannot nor will ever be expunged! And I will not allow my family to be the cause of that shame, that I allowed this sacred sword be stained by filth!"

Prince Nijou paused, and took a deep breath. "The enemy is coming." He finally said. "I know it. You must leave soon, Makoto-kun. Take the sword back to Tokyo, and present it to Prince Konoe. Tell him…tell him that all responsibility belongs to me, and that I died as befitted as one of our divine lineage."

Hands shaking, Makoto allowed the prince to drop the sword in his hands, and reverently lowered it to the ground. "I hear and obey, Prince Nijou." He said with a deep bow. "It was, and always will be an honor, Your Highness. I only wish it could have gone differently."

The prince smiled sadly. "As do I, my friend, as do I." he said. "But we did all we could, and it seemed it was not enough. All we can do now, is save what we can from the ruin of this war, and prepare for the future. Now go, go before it is too late, and all this will be for nothing!"

Makoto bowed, and sliding back, rose to his feet. Saluting, the prince returned the salute, and Makoto turned and briskly ran down the corridor away. Left alone, the prince returned to his room. A pair of candles on his desk provided light, but the prince did not sit or kneel. Instead, he stood relaxed but wary, eyes closed, breathing in measured breaths.

The minutes passed quickly. Even as Makoto ran down the streets, away from Prince Nijou's headquarters, his fellow soldiers stayed where they were, sweating and breathing heavily in fearful anticipation. And still the prince stayed in his quarters, eyes closed, standing with measured breaths.

Half an hour later, and the prince's eyes snapped open as he felt something _shift_. Nor was he the only one, the soldiers muttering amongst themselves as they felt the atmosphere grow heavy, thick, almost hard to breathe in.

Slight tremors shook the house every so often, causing ripples of unease to spread among the soldiers. Unnoticed, the ground outside began to displace in waving lines, as though something was moving underneath, moving slowly if steadily towards the windows.

As they came close, a soldier noticed, and giving a shout of alarm pointed his rifle at it. He tightened his finger on the trigger, but before he could fire, all hell broke loose.

Monstrous centipedes with fangs the size of a man's head and legs twice as long as a man's arm erupted from the ground, hissing and spitting venom as they hurled themselves against the soldiers. The man who first noticed went down with his head burst like a ripe melon, his killer crawling with unnatural speed over his body as it went for the other soldiers.

More of its kind followed, crawling out of the dirt in a tide of chitin and slime and over the wall into the windows. Gunfire erupted, Japanese soldiers falling back to try and open up the space between them and their attackers. But the monsters were strong, their chitinous plates enough to shrug off most of the soldiers' fire, and resistant to pain, shrugged off those bullets which punched through into their bodies except only when their miniature brains were destroyed.

The mansion shook yet again, and then pale, wormlike things erupted through the floorboards, each large enough to swallow a man. Fanged mouths opened, and belched out a tide of armored, slug-like worms with oversized heads dominated by fanged maws. The spasms of their bodies could hurl them through air at terrifying distances and accuracy, soldiers dying at their barricades or in the corridors, torn apart screaming either by the monstrous centipedes from outside or the tide of worms from beneath.

Others fought the pain, and clutching grenades to their bodies blew themselves up along with the monsters tearing them apart. They were the lucky ones. Others died slowly and painfully, and if enough of their body was intact after they died or their minds shut down in shock, the worms buried themselves into the victims' spines and with a surge of prana, forced the bodies upright and stagger them, puppet-like, forward at their master's bidding.

As explosions shook the mansion and the sound of screams echoed through the air, Prince Nijou sighed and turned around. Holding out his arms, he moved them in a circular fashion parallel and opposite to each other, paper inscribed with calligraphic script held in his fingers.

As his hands moved through the air, sheets of paper slipped from his fingers and hanging in the air, formed a circle before him. The prince narrowed his eyes as time seemed to slow to a crawl, and then the wood and paper walls collapsed under a tide of filth and the defiled dead.

Prince Nijou's eyes narrowed with hate, and quickly stretching a hand palm outward reformed the paper sheets into a wall-like formation which shot forward. As filth and paper struck each other there was a flash of blue light, and with resounding boom the front of the mansion exploded outward, blue flame dripping down and spreading as it hungrily fed on wood and paper, the flesh of the worms and their puppets turned to ash on impact.

The prince stood silent and unmoved as fire spread around him, and then narrowed his eyes again, as the flames seemed to flicker, and then some of them turned orange and went out, worms and centipedes forcing their way up from the ground and piling on top of each other melted with one another to form a…thing, that looked and acted like a man, but was ultimately nothing more than a walking disease, a plague that deserved only to be stamped out and burned.

The twisted mockery of Humanity laughed at the prince. "Impressive pyrotechnics, Your Highness." It mocked. "But petty tricks won't save you. Soon, your precious body will belong to us, one way or another."

"Impudent trash!" Prince Nijou spat, the flames around him roaring in sympathy with his anger. "Worms like you who ought to do naught but eat dirt and rot but somehow gained the ability to ape the form of men, would seek to defile one in whose veins flows the blood of the gods? Ten thousand deaths will not suffice!"

The mockery laughed, its form rippling as the worms and other monstrosities that made it up merged with more from beneath, until it was little more than a pale, bloated parody of Mankind from the waist up but below had the form of a centipede. Laughing, it slithered through the flames towards the prince, mouth baring and stretching wide in an inhuman fashion.

Roaring his rage and rejection, Prince Nijou met the creature's charge, flames erupting in his wake, and wrapping around his fists.

And in the distance, Makoto looked back to the burning mansion, and thinking of his liege and comrades, closed his eyes to fight down the tears, and the urge to turn back. "Your Highness…" he whispered. "Prince Nijou…"

Blinking away the tears, the captain turned and vanished down the street, seeking to fulfill his liege's last command, and in so doing, do what he could to honor his liege and his comrades' sacrifices.

* * *

 _The Present Day_

"See you tomorrow!"

"Hey I know this new coffee shop down town, want to go and check it out?"

"Hey babe, you have some time tonight?"

Students milled around the quadrangle of Homurahara Academy, many heading off to club activities but others were simply leaving, either going home or out to town, be it alone, in pairs, or in groups. Laughter and chitchat mingled to form a dull, background drone, one largely muffled by the walls, windows, and height of the Student Council Chairperson's office.

A teenage girl stood behind the desk, long dark hair tied into a pair of pigtails. Bright blue eyes coolly regarded the student body milling about below, and blinking once, Rin Tohsaka turned and regarded the two students standing in front of her desk. "Alright," she said. "It's going to be tight on cash in spring, but if that's what we have to do to accommodate everyone in the spring activities, it'll have to do."

"Yes, chairwoman." The Student Council Finance Officer said with a nod, and Rin turned to the other student.

"I understand the concerns our fellow students have about the measures the faculty wants to take," she said. "But it's not like we can do nothing. In fact, those students who were involved in that little…party of theirs, should be thankful that we're only going this far, and haven't released the names of those involved, much less that video of theirs."

"Yes, but…"

Rin held up a hand, and the Public Morals Officer fell silent. "In any case," Rin said. "It's out of our hands. When all is said and done, the last say goes to the principal and the board, and the Student Council has to follow their decisions. After all, ours is only to manage student affairs and bridge the gap between the faculty and the staff."

"Yes."

"Well then…"

The two officers bowed, and turning left the chairwoman's office. The moment they left, Rin sighed, and abandoning her professional façade sank into her chair and pushing it back, placed her feet on the table. "Tired, onee-sama?" Sakura Tohsaka asked, the long haired girl leaning in with a polite smile.

"Of course I'm tired." Rin replied. "I already have so many things to do on a regular basis, and then that slut Takamiya and her posse just had to get found out, leading to a scandal we barely managed to keep under wraps, and with at least one attempted suicide from it…so far."

"Onee-sama…!"

"Yes, yes," Rin said, putting her feet down and moving forward, rapped her knuckles against the wood of her table. "I know what you're going to say. First, saying things like that is bad luck, and second, well, you wouldn't actually say this until I asked for your opinion."

Sakura carefully looked around before leaning in again. "As magi, we should be more respectful about superstitions, especially those held by many people." She reminded Rin softly. "You never know about these things."

Rin scoffed but then smiled. "True," she admitted. "And the second point?"

Sakura straightened and smiled back. "What about it?" she asked.

"What's your opinion?"

"That was a bit harsh on Mishima-sempai, wasn't it?" Sakura asked. "After all, he's the one who'll be in charge – on the student side of things – of implementing the measures to keep anything like what Takamiya-sempai and others used to do from repeating, either individually or as a group, and of course, managing complaints from other students. You have to admit, some of the measures we're being asked to implement will considerably make things more inconvenient."

"Hmm…" Rin hummed while leaning back in her chair. "True…alright, I've got it. This is what we'll do. We'll carry out the measures as set by the faculty, but at the same time we'll evaluate their effects for the next month or two. Based on what we find, we'll streamline the measures so they can do what they're meant to do, while being less inconvenient on the students and maybe, on the faculty's part as well."

"Very good, onee-sama." Sakura said, taking a clipboard from behind her and making a note. "I'll inform Mishima-sempai as soon as possible. But what about the rest of the Student Council?"

"They can be informed at the rest of the next meeting." Rin said. "Right now, having Mishima know should be enough."

"Yes."

Rin stayed silent for several more moments, and Sakura tilted her head. "Is something wrong, onee-sama?" she asked.

"Somehow," Rin began. "I get the feeling you weren't just talking about the measures being inconvenient, when you mentioned Mishima having to deal with the complaints that will come from them."

"Inconvenience will make for a convenient excuse for many of them." Sakura replied after a moment. "Not everyone in that video was a…regular, member of Takamiya-sempai's circle of friends. Some of them barely knew her in passing, if at all before that. In short, we don't really know how much of the student body was actually involved – regularly or not – in Takamiya-sempai's…'mingling', parties."

Rin nodded slowly. "Good point," she admitted. "Unfortunately, we can't really launch an investigation about that, it'd come off as a witch hunt. Especially since we only have circumstantial evidence to base it on, no matter what we might dredge up. The best we can do is keep this from going on."

"And Yanagi-san?"

Rin lowered her face to look at her desk, clasped hands pressed against her forehead. " _Enjou kousai_ ," she murmured. "Mingling parties, getting outed and attempting suicide as a result…to be honest it's hard to be sympathetic…"

"Onee-sama…!"

"I know, I know." Rin said, raising her head and shaking it. "It's very callous of me, but given how she…willingly, threw herself into the whole dirty business, it's hard not to say she was asking for it."

Sakura was silent for a few moments. "I guess you have a point there." She admitted. "Though, you shouldn't let Emiya-kun hear that. You know how he feels about the whole affair."

"He's too nice for his own good." Rin said with a laugh, and Sakura giggled.

"So you've said in the past." She said. "But, it's not bad. And it's what I like most about him."

Rin glanced at Sakura with a faint smile and narrowed eyes, Sakura responding with a cheerful and innocent smile, and finally Rin gave a small laugh. "Fair enough," she said. "Well, enough about that. Yanagi's class adviser and her parents seem to be dealing with it well enough on their own, so there's no need for us to stick our noses into it and making things more complicated than they already are."

"Yes, onee-sama."

Rin nodded, and turning back to her table sighed at all the forms and papers she needed to review, sign, and decide no. "It just never stops does it." She said exasperatedly. "I knew it would come with the job, but this is ridiculous. Oh what the heck, might as well deal with this now instead of letting it pile up."

"Yes, onee-sama."

"I don't have any further appointments today, do I?" Rin asked, and Sakura checked her clipboard.

"No, no further scheduled appointments today." She said. "Barring a walk-in appointment, of course."

"Right then," Rin said, stretching her arms before taking the top off the nearest pile. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

"You sure you don't want any help with that?"

"No, I'm fine."

Sakura pursed her lips, and then shrugged. "Then, shall we get going?" she asked. "I wouldn't want to keep mother waiting."

"No, it wouldn't do to keep Aunt Aoi waiting, that's for sure." Shirou Emiya agreed, hefting the heavy bags of groceries he and Sakura had been asked to buy along the way. Rin had gone on ahead at their insistence, leaving the two of them to shop together. "Especially when I'm invited for dinner."

"And this is where I ask the usual question, why don't you just move in with us?" Sakura asked as the two of them walked down the road away from the supermarket. "We have plenty of room, and father and mother wouldn't mind. It'd certainly be more convenient for father and you, for one thing."

Shirou laughed and shook his head. "It's improper." He said. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. Your dad and family have done so much for me already since my dad died, and when you think about it, it was dad who was obliged to Uncle Tokiomi in the first place."

Sakura sighed. "I guess so." She said. "But, at least think about it…at length. Please?"

Shirou glanced at Sakura at that, and took in her earnest expression and sighed. "Alright," he said. "I'll think it over. But can I at least do it at my own pace?"

Sakura giggled. "Of course you can, but don't take too long." She said, and Shirou laughed.

"Yes, yes."

* * *

"I'm home." Rin said, walking into the foyer and removing her shoes. Placing them on a nearby rack, she slipped on her slippers and walked into the house. She'd only taken a few steps when her mother showed up.

"Welcome home," Aoi said with a smile. "Your father's in the workshop, he wants to see you as soon as possible. Something's come up, it seems."

"Oh?" Rin asked, tilting her head but Aoi just shook her head.

"Your father hasn't shared it with me yet." She said. "He might at the dinner table, especially since Shirou-kun will be coming. But for now, I think he'll just be sharing it with you."

"I…see…" Rin said slowly. "Alright, I'll go and see him right away."

"Alright then," Aoi said with a nod as Rin walked by. "Oh, and I assume Shirou-kun and Sakura went to the supermarket together?"

"They did." Rin said over a shoulder, and at a nod from her mother resumed heading for the Tohsaka workshop. When she arrived, she found her father sitting in his wheelchair at his desk, his chin resting on an elbow, the elder magus clearly in something of a pensive mood.

"Father?" Rin asked as she stepped in, Tokiomi Tohsaka blinking at her voice and at her presence registering on the workshop's bounded fields. "Mother said you wanted to see me?"

"Oh, yes I did." Tokiomi said with a nod. "By the way, I heard Sakura and Shirou-kun are off running errands for your mother?"

"They are." Rin confirmed as she walked up to her father's desk.

"I see." Tokiomi said. "In that case, I'll just have to wait until later to show them this."

"Show them what?" Rin asked, glancing at the desk, where an opened envelope and partly-folded up letter were sitting. "A letter? From who?"

" _This_ arrived from Tokyo earlier this afternoon." Tokiomi said, taking the letter and handed it to Rin. Taking it, Rin gave it a glance and looked at her father with a confused expression on her face.

"It's blank." She said, prompting Tokiomi to raise an eyebrow.

"Is it?" he asked with a chiding note, and Rin blushed slightly. True, if a seemingly-blank letter had caused her father to be…concerned, for one reason or another, then there was more to it than it seemed. Opening her circuits, she scanned the paper in her hands, only to blink as it registered as nothing more than letter paper, if very high-quality letter paper.

Rin regarded the paper closely, wondering what could possibly be concerning from this blank piece of paper with nothing special to it.

"Some things can be both profound and simple at the same time, Rin." Tokiomi reminded her, the younger magus glancing up at her father before looking back at the paper. Holding it slightly away from her, it took her only a few moments to recognize that the letter was not in fact, blank, and that the answer to her question had been staring at her in the face from the very beginning.

Embossed in the middle of the page, and which she took as mere background decoration but probably was not, was a golden crest of wisteria flowers.

* * *

A/N

Yes, Tokiomi and Aoi are still alive. Sakura is still a Tohsaka, and Shirou has a special relationship with them. Rin is less…aloof, i.e. more engaged with her fellow students/peers. As for how this could happen, let's just say certain butterflies set off a massive typhoon of changes in the timeline.

With that said, those of you with some background knowledge of Japanese history could probably guess by now which clan the Matou made an enemy of.

Updates will be long in between, _Transposition_ and _Moonlit Fate_ being my focuses right now.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Shadow of the Wisteria Blossoms

Chapter 1

 _Spring, 2000_

The Sun shone down bright and hot from a cerulean sky lightly dotted with clouds, a gentle breeze causing the green stalks of rice to dance gently on the fields below. Their movements sent ripples through the water that lightly soaked the rice fields, dragonflies, toads, and other life basking in the cool water and the warmth of the Sun alike.

The light of the Sun illuminated the city of Nara, ancient Imperial capital, and the heart of Japanese spirituality. Cherry blossoms danced in the breeze between ancient temples and the modern buildings, deer wandering down the streets and squares of the city as they had for over a thousand years, mingling with the people whose veneration and regard for the children of the city's protector deity was untouched by the passing of time.

The breeze picked up, whispering through the leaves and branches of the primeval forests that stood outside the city, and down the streets of the sacred precincts. People of many stripes mixed together in those streets, statues of dragons, tigers, and other sacred creatures both real and mythological alike staring out at the people as they passed. There were worshippers and tourists in casual clothes, students on field trips and wearing uniforms of various cuts, priests in white and grey kimonos and tall black hats, shrine maidens in red and white, and even Buddhist monks with shaved heads and brown habits clutching prayer beads, chanting mantras as they proceeded on their way.

An older woman dressed in a two-layer kimono of white and gold walked down a stone path, under the dancing shadows of the trees and the red-painted temple structures around her. In one hand she held a folded fan, its ribs lacquered in black and its leaves embossed with gold leaf. Her long black hair was tied back into a ponytail, held in place by a ring of finely-crafted gold.

Behind the woman walked two younger women, who stayed a respectful two-stepped distance from their mistress. Like her, they too wore two-layered kimonos, of brown and red, and observant eyes would notice the cunningly-hidden hilt of a _wakizashi_ tucked into their robes.

As they approached the main sanctuary of Kasuga Shrine, the two younger women came to a halt, and bowed respectfully as their mistress continued on alone. The older woman finally came to a halt just before the sanctuary's threshold, and clapping her hands and closing her eyes in silent prayer bowed deeply before her ancestors, mortal and divine alike.

Turning, she gave a subtle gesture to her attendants, who once more fell into step behind her. With a bow, a waiting shrine maiden silently guided the princess into the shrine interior, down wood and paper corridors to an antechamber where other attendants were waiting.

They were all men in dark suits, chatting quietly to each other, but at the princess' arrival they stood to attention on either side. The princess did not acknowledge them, instead passing through their ranks in silence even as her attendants took their place among her relatives' attendants.

The doors at the end of the antechamber were guarded by a pair of women in plain white kimonos and dark grey _hakamas_ , and carried a _naginata_ as a weapon. _Wakizashi_ could be seen sheathed at their waists, and as one the two guards slid the doors open, allowing the princess entry before they closed the doors once more.

The room inside was plain, lit with elegant oil lamps in bronze. The far side of the room was decorated with a tapestry of purple cloth, embroidered in gold at the center with the stylized wisteria of the ancient Fujiwara Clan. The wooden frame at the top however, was decorated with a single Chrysanthemum in gold, the sole reminder of their dynastic link to their homeland's ancient and semi-divine rulers.

A low table had been placed in the middle of the room, and around which sat a pair of men in dark suits. Both silently but subtly nodded their greetings at the princess' arrival, the princess returning the greeting in kind as she too took her seat.

Time passed slowly, almost like caramel as the three sat in the warm and lamp-lit room. None spoke, the princess and the two princes silently keeping their minds to themselves, and on what was to be discussed today.

Finally, about twenty minutes after the princess' arrival, the doors opened and two more men in dark suits entered. One silently took his seat, but the other…

"It's been some time since all five of us met together like this." Kotohito, the Prince Konoe said with a casual air. "Usually the five of us are too busy with our intrigues at the capital, and yet here we are. The last time we met like this…was six, seven years ago, I believe?"

The prince paused ever so briefly as he took his seat. "The Misaki Affair was rather messy as I recall," He mused. "Though, the status quo was maintained in the end, and those responsible…sanctioned, appropriately."

The prince's relatives stayed silent as more attendants arrived, serving the princes and the princess tea before leaving as silently as they came. The silence continued as the princes and the princess took their tea, and then Tsubaki, the Princess Takatsukasa spoke for the first time since her arrival.

"I didn't call all five of us here to make small talk." She said. "Let us get down to business."

"Very well then," Prince Konoe said. "I've read the report you distributed when you asked for this meeting, and I assume all of us have."

The other princes nodded, and Prince Konoe nodded in acknowledgement. "The oracles and the dreamers are in agreement." Princess Takatsukasa said firmly. "The time for justice for the humiliation of over fifty years ago is almost upon us, and more than that, the gods have already chosen our champion."

As she spoke, the princess' eyes slid gently in the direction of the Prince Nijou, who narrowed his eyes at her. "While this affair most directly concerns Prince Nijou and his family," the princess continued. "The magnitude of the insult is such that justice and retribution is a matter that concerns the entire clan."

Prince Konoe leaned back in thought for a few moments, and then shared glanced one by one with the other princes. Prince Nijou nodded in agreement as he met Prince Konoe's eyes, and then Prince Konoe, First Among Equals of the Five Regent Families of the Fujiwara Clan turned back to Princess Takatsukasa.

"I'm listening."

* * *

 _The Present Day_

"So how are things at school?" Tokiomi asked from where he was sitting at the head of the table.

Rin sighed heavily. "To be honest, father," she began. "It's saying something that these days keeping up with my schoolwork is preferable to Student Council duty."

"It can't be that bad."

"Yes, it is." Rin said with another sigh. "Takamiya-san's scandal and everything that came with it…"

Aoi coughed primly before giving a smile. "Something lighter, perhaps?" she suggested.

Rin closed her mouth mid-sentence, and Tokiomi nodded once in deference to his wife. "Well," Shirou began after a couple of moments of silence around the dining table. "I hear Sakura's been nominated as a candidate for team captaincy next year."

"Is this true, Sakura?" Tokiomi asked.

Sakura looked uncomfortable. "Well, yes," she said before glaring at Shirou. "Though it's not for sure yet that I'll be _kyuudo_ captain next year. I'm just a candidate."

"Even so, congratulations." Tokiomi said, and Aoi nodded.

"Yes, congratulations." Aoi said with a smile. "Even if you're just a candidate, it shows your skills are qualified enough to be considered for such a role."

"Actually," Shirou said, after swallowing some miso soup. "From what I heard it's pretty much a formality at this point. I mean, yeah, there are other team members who're quite good, maybe as good as Sakura, but being team captain needs more than just being good with the bow."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked.

"It means," Rin said after swallowing a mouthful of rice. "That with your experience in the Student Council you've got the proven leadership skill along with the athletics for team captain."

"But, I'm just an assistant for the Student Council."

"That may be so," Tokiomi said with a nod. "But it also means that the Student Council's leaders are able to trust you with reliably managing the details of their duties and decisions, allowing them to focus on the big picture."

"Well, if you put it that way…"

"What's wrong, Sakura?" Aoi asked. "Don't you want to be team captain?"

"Well, actually, yes I do, but…"

"But…?"

"If I become team captain," Sakura eventually said. "I might have to quit my other clubs, what with the extra responsibilities that come with the captaincy. And I like my other clubs."

"True," Rin said with a slow nod. "And, you might end up being asked to be Council Sports Officer too."

"Yes."

Silence fell around the table after that, but several moments later Tokiomi spoke up after a drink of water. "The choice is up to you, Sakura." He said. "But as you said, you _might_ have to quit your other clubs with all the responsibilities that come with the captaincy. But that's just it, isn't it? You _might_ have to, it's not certain."

"Well, you have a point, I guess."

Rin nodded. "Father's right, Sakura." She said. "I mean, just look at Ayako. She's _kyuudo_ team captain, but she's also a member of the _naginata-jutsu_ team. There's no problem there, and I'm sure if she can manage that, I'm sure you can too."

"She's only a member of two clubs though."

"True," Rin admitted. "But what are your other clubs? Literature Appreciation and Cooking, isn't it? And as far as I know both of those aren't as time-consuming and effort intensive as being on two sports teams at the same time."

"You make it sound as though cooking is so easy."

Aoi coughed. "Now, now," she said. "Keep it civil, you two."

"Yes, mother. Sorry, onee-sama."

"Don't worry, it's fine." Rin said.

Sakura sighed and focused back on her meal. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to see what'll happen when the time comes." She said, and Tokiomi gave an agreeing nod.

"That may be for the best. Do not hesitate to aim higher, but at the same time, know and understand your limits."

"Yes, father."

* * *

Dinner was over, and Aoi now served cake and coffee before taking her seat once again. For a time only the tinkle of silverware against china could be heard, but eventually, the family – and Shirou – were relaxing in their seats as Aoi and Sakura refilled everyone's coffee cups.

"Now then," Tokiomi began. "Now that supper is finished, we can proceed to business. This arrived earlier today, from Tokyo."

At that, Tokiomi reached forward and placed the letter on the table. Aoi was the first to take it, and as she saw the crest that was all that was on the letter, her eyes widened. "Darling," she began shakily. "Are we being summoned to court?"

Rin was silent, though Shirou and Sakura looked surprised. Tokiomi noticed Shirou and Sakura's expression, and smiled reassuringly. "No, we are not, Aoi." He said, answering his wife's question first. "And no, Shirou-kun. It's not just a court. It's the Imperial Court."

Sakura's eyes went wide and then narrowed with realization, but Shirou still looked confused. "As in the Imperial Court of Japan?" he asked.

"Yes, that is so." Tokiomi answered with a nod.

"But, wasn't the Imperial Court of Japan abolished along with the nobility after the Second World War?"

Tokiomi glanced at Rin. "Rin," he began. "If you would explain to Shirou-kun?"

"Yes, father." Rin said with a nod before turning to Shirou. "Certainly, legally-speaking the Imperial Court of Japan no longer exists in the mundane world. In the supernatural world, however…"

"I see…no, wait, how does that work?"

"You might remember from history class how prior to the official establishment of the Japanese Nobility during the Meiji Restoration, the upper classes of Japan were divided between the feudal lords and the court nobles." Rin continued. "Most, if not the great majority of court nobles are actually magi."

Shirou looked surprised. "They were?" he asked.

"They still are, in fact." Rin said. "Of course, they're not magi like us. We are magi in the western sense, seekers of knowledge for its own sake, with the goal of using said knowledge to understand and replicate mysteries, and ultimately open a path to reach the Root, the Origin of All Things."

"I see." Shirou said, with a thoughtful nod. "I guess then that the court nobles are Oriental magi, more focused on achieving spiritual mastery and balance than reaching the Root, isn't that right?"

"To an extent, yes." Rin confirmed. "A number of court nobles do dabble in western magecraft, but for the most part their magecraft is of the _onmyoudou_ variety."

Rin paused and chuckled. "It's ironic, actually." She said. " _Onmyoudou_ was declared a superstition during the Meiji Restoration, and yet that is still the bulk of their magecraft. Not completely though; details are lacking as might be expected of magi, western or otherwise, but the priest-magi have access to unique mysteries and divine knowledge passed down their lineage over the centuries from the gods themselves."

"Divine mysteries?" Shirou echoed in shock and surprise.

Rin nodded, but then Tokiomi spoke up. "A question then, Shirou-kun." He said. "If the mysteries of Japanese priest-magi are so incredibly profound, dating back to the Age of Gods and indeed, to the very gods themselves, why is it the Association has not made any move to secure such unique knowledge, for the good of all magi?"

"That's…well, the first and most obvious reason is that the Association has neutrality agreements with non-affiliated magi organizations outside of the western hemisphere." Shirou said after a moment's thought. "I mean it's the same with the Middle East's Magic Foundation, or the Chinese cults like Shaolin, Ming, and Wudang among others. Apart from that…"

"Yes, go on."

Shirou stayed silent for several moments, and then he continued. "Even if the Association were inclined to try and seize divine mysteries from the priest-magi of Japan," he said. "There's no guarantee it would do them any good. Oriental mysteries are rather awkward if not outright unusable for those trained in western magecraft, and what's more those divine mysteries are connected to the bloodlines and spirituality of the priest-magi. And, well, Japan is on the other side of the world from the Association. A magical conflict here would be very difficult for the Association to support, and could draw in others who'd be afraid the Association could turn on them next after what's been done to the Japanese priest-magi."

"In short?" Tokiomi prompted.

"In short," Shirou said. "There's no legal basis to do so, and the gain too little or nothing for the risk."

"Well-reasoned," Tokiomi said with a smile, and Rin and Sakura both nudged a weakly-laughing Shirou. "Rin, you may continue.'

"Yes, father."

Rin turned back to Shirou. "As I was saying," she said. "Most court nobles are magi, including the Imperial Family."

"Well, that makes sense." Shirou said. "They are descended from the Sun Goddess, and all her high priests and high priestesses are members of the Imperial Family."

"His Majesty is the high priest." Rin corrected.

"He is?"

Rin nodded. "The publicly-known high priest is just a proxy." She said. "In truth, His Majesty is the high priest."

"And the high priestess?"

"The high priestess is the high priestess."

Shirou opened his mouth, and then closed it. After a moment's thought, he shrugged. "Okay," he said. "What's next?"

"Apart from the court nobles," Rin said. "There's the feudal lords. This time, well, most feudal lords were just ordinary people…supernaturally-speaking, of course! However, some of them were magi themselves, though a greater number of feudal lords and their descendants who were magi practiced the western form over _onmyoudou_ or inherited divine mysteries."

"I see."

"Such as ourselves, for example."

"What?"

Rin giggled. "We weren't _that_ high up in the feudal hierarchy, but this whole land where Fuyuki now stands was my ancestor Nagato Tohsaka's property." She said. "While there were landed, middle-class citizens under the Tokugawa Shogunate, given the large extent of Nagato Tohsaka's property, he was actually recognized as lord of this domain. Not that it really mattered much, my ancestor both before and after becoming the first magus of our bloodline didn't involve himself much in politics, whether under the shogunate or the empire."

"With that said though," Sakura added. "We did receive a noble title under Meiji the Great, didn't we?"

"Yes," Tokiomi said with a nod. "My grandfather, the third Tohsaka magus, was recognized as a viscount as part of the Japanese nobility. First Viscount Tohsaka…not that it was very useful, as neither he nor my father used it much outside of certain social functions, and they never used the right to run for a seat in the House of Peers. And of course, it was lost – in the mundane world that is – following the end of the Second World War."

"Then," Shirou said. "That means you're the Third Viscount Tohsaka, aren't you, uncle?"

Tokiomi laughed at that, and gave a slightly-embarrassed smile. "Please don't call me that." He said.

"Sorry," Shirou said with a small smile.

"Outside of the Imperial Court," Tokiomi continued. "Which continues to use pre-World War Two titles among its members, there's no real use for that title, and given its abolition in the mundane world, it wouldn't really impress the European nobles either. Indeed, they might say a few…less than charitable things, were we to try to use the title. In any case, results would earn more…satisfaction, and recognition, than empty titles would."

"Yes, I agree." Shirou said before turning to Rin. "With that said, Rin…that means you're Fourth Viscountess, aren't you?'

"I am," she said.

"And Sakura?"

"No titles for me." Sakura said with a shrug. "The Japanese nobility uses the British system, under which only the incumbent lord and his heir or heiress may use the family title."

"I see."

Sakura shrugged again. "Titles are empty things anyway." She said.

"True," Shirou said. "So…to sum things up, the Imperial Court of Japan still exists, though it only includes native magi or rather the noble-born ones, right?"

"Yes."

"I'm guessing then they have no authority outside of Japan."

"None whatsoever."

Shirou nodded. "So…" he began. "What exactly does the Imperial Court of Japan do these days? I mean, outside of religious rituals and things like that? Do they police Japanese magi or something?"

"Ever heard of a zero-sum game?" Rin asked.

"No," Shirou said after a few moments' thoughts. "But I can guess what it means."

"Oh?"

"Zero-sum," Shirou said. "In other words, no matter what's added, it all comes out at zero. Nothing really changes."

"There you go." Rin said. "That's basically what the Imperial Court of Japan does these days. They maintain the status quo, and for all the intrigue that goes on in Tokyo's shadows between the court nobles and their affiliates, and of course what happens outside the capital, nothing really changes. Though, as you say they organize and maintain religious and supernatural rituals among themselves."

"And…do they police magi and such?"

"Depends," Rin said. "If the magi in question aren't affiliates with the Association, then yes. For example, there was the Misaki Incident about nine, ten years ago, when the Tohno Clan massacred the Nanaya Clan. The Imperial Court sanctioned the Tohno for it, though details are somewhat messy. It's rumored that the Tohno Clan Head tried to resist the decision, prompting the court to flex its muscles. Apart from that…"

"The Tohno and Nanaya weren't magi though." Sakura interjected as Rin shrugged and trailed off. "Saying the court has oversight over Japanese magi is somewhat misleading. More like they have oversight over the supernatural sphere of Japan, and where it overlaps with the Association, they prefer to cooperate or at least avoid any confrontation."

Rin nodded at Sakura, who nodded back. "Why would the Tohno massacre the Nanaya though?" Shirou asked, somewhat disturbed at the reminder of the bloody inhumanity so common behind the veil separating the mundane from the supernatural.

"No idea." Rin said. "As I said, details are messy, though it's rumored Nanaya were plotting against Tohno, and the Tohno Family Head was somewhat…off, in the head."

"Oh."

For a few minutes, everyone just sat in silence, nursing their coffee while Shirou mulled over what he'd been told. Finally, Shirou sighed. "This…is a lot to take in." he said. "I'd like to think it over some more but, uncle, there's something more to talk about, isn't there? I don't want to waste your time, so…"

"Indeed, Shirou-kun. Thank you." Tokiomi said before taking the letter from Aoi and passing it down to Shirou and Sakura. He and Sakura stared at the flower in surprise, and then Sakura's eyes widened and narrowed in realization.

"The Fujiwara Clan?" she said. "If we're not being summoned to court, then why? What business do they have with us?"

Tokiomi sighed. "Tell me, Shirou-kun." He said. "Do you know about the Holy Grail War?"

"Yes." Shirou said with a nod. "It's a contest held every fifty years in this city, for a chance to offer a wish to be granted to the Holy Grail of Fuyuki. It's fought between seven magi as Masters, and seven Heroic Spirits summoned as Servants, with the last pair standing as the winners."

Shirou paused, and took a deep breath. "I…have opinions on it," he said. "But I won't say them here. Not now, just that the last one was ten years ago, and it crippled you, uncle, and slowly killed my dad."

Tokiomi closed his eyes, and a strange, unreadable expression appeared on his face. "Father?" Rin asked softly in concern.

Tokiomi took a deep breath, and he opened his eyes. "Yes," he said, smiling reassuringly at Rin. "Now is not the conversation for those opinions. Well said, Shirou-kun."

Shirou nodded. "As for what the Fujiwara Clan wants, I suspect it has something to do with the events of the Third Holy Grail War, fought in 1944." Tokiomi said.

"1944…" Shirou murmured. "The height of the Second World War."

Tokiomi nodded. "Agents of both the empire and the Third Reich sought the Grail," he said. "And planned to use its power to turn the tide of the war. Whether they would have succeeded or not though…"

Tokiomi trailed off and shook his head. "No, that is a matter for another time." He said. "More to the point though, the empire's agent was Prince Nijou of the Fujiwara Clan. He was among the last Masters to die, and ordinarily that would not have been an issue. He died in battle, the possibility of which was expected and prepared for."

"Something happened, didn't it?" Rin asked.

"Haven't you ever wondered why the three founding families drifted apart?" Tokiomi asked Rin.

"Einzbern was just too far away, to be really close to us." Rin said. "As for Matou…come to think of it, you always told us to avoid them, and if we were to interact with them it should be as brief and noncommittal as possible."

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Sakura murmured.

"During the Third Holy Grail War," Tokiomi said. "The Matou Master did not just kill Prince Nijou in battle, he also seized the body of the fallen prince as a spoil of war."

"He did what?" Shirou asked, stunned.

"Well, that's…that's an acceptable practice among magi, but…" Rin hesitantly said. "But…but…you should also be prudent. I mean, magi steal resources, secrets, and things like that from each other all the time, but…it's also expected that you know your limits. Steal from or offend a family so much greater than yours…then…"

"You deserve what's coming to you." Sakura finished before palming her face. "The Fujiwara Clan found out, didn't they?"

"Yes, they did." Tokiomi said with a nod. "My father tried to arbitrate and at first it seemed he might succeed. The Fujiwara Clan were willing to settle for the return of Prince Nijou's body, and appropriate compensation. Not for killing the prince, it was an honorable death in battle after all, but for withholding a prince from his due resting place among his ancestors."

"They refused?" Rin asked, looking sick.

"Father never found out the details," Tokiomi said with a sad smile. "But he – and the Fujiwara – found out enough to realize that Prince Nijou's body had been rendered down by then."

Aoi gasped in horror, as did Shirou. Rin and Sakura looked sick, and after a while, Rin shook her head. "Then what?" she asked.

"The Matou tried to pay off the Fujiwara Clan," Tokiomi said. "Unfortunately, given the circumstances, it came off as…belittling, the honor of the clan. Almost as though Matou was saying Fujiwara's honor was worth any sum of money."

"That would have gone down well." Sakura groaned.

"Fujiwara never said anything though." Tokiomi said with a grim expression on his face. "They just broke off the negotiations, and made sure everyone and everything in the Japanese supernatural domain knew about it. And ever since then, Matou have been effectively _persona non grata_ , pariahs in Japan's spiritual domain."

"The Fujiwara's vengeance will fall sooner or later." Sakura said with an undercurrent of fear. "Father…"

"Yes, I know." Tokiomi said with a sigh. "But we have broken off the alliance with the Matou, and my father personally met with the then-Prince Takatsukasa – who was the effective leader of the clan after then-Prince Konoe's suicide – to assure him of the fact and that we knew where our…loyalties, lay. We did not evict the Matou from our territory so as to keep things low-key, and the Fujiwara understood that. But…"

"But?"

"Then-Prince Takatsukasa told my father he understood." Tokiomi said with a sigh. "However, he also said that he expected us to prove our sincerity in the future."

"And what did grandfather say?" Rin asked.

"He of course said we were willing to do so." Tokiomi said. "As for then-Prince Takatsukasa, he said…"

"Father?"

"He said, 'we shall see'."

* * *

A/N

Well, there you go. We have the family who the Matou pissed off (and how), and a lot of creative elaboration on the lacking background on supernatural Japan apart from a few Association-affiliated magi families like Tohsaka, Matou, Emiya, and Aozaki. Plus, the demon-hunters of course, but I think a lot more could be done, especially since East Asia should be at least as supernatural as Europe is.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Shadow of the Wisteria Blossoms

Chapter 2

 _Spring, 2000_

The morning Sun shone bright and warm down from the clear blue sky, its light playing over the students thronging up the street towards the local high school. Among those students was a pretty if sharp-featured girl leaning towards the tall end of average, with long dark hair hanging loosely over her shoulders. She walked in silence, just listening with a veiled air of interest to her best friend and said best friend's boyfriend chattering beside her.

As they approached the school gates, another trio of girls approached from the other side, excitedly chattering amongst themselves. "Oh hey," one of the second trio said, noticing the first trio. "It's Miki and Hitomi."

"Mikasa," The long-haired girl – Mikasa Kotobuki – sharply corrected, if softened by the friendly expression on her face. "Not Miki…hi."

The other girls giggled at the usual response, Hitomi and her boyfriend giving their own greetings before one of the second trio, a tanned girl with bleached blonde hair suddenly leaned in, grinning at Mikasa. "Hey, Miki," she said. "Did you know?"

"No, I don't know."

"Kotori got a love letter from Sasaki-sempai!"

Mikasa made a dreary face as the _gyaru_ and her friends giggled excitedly among themselves, Hitomi and her boyfriend giving amused smiles at the sight. "Sasaki…?" she murmured, scratching her head. "Does Kotori even know what she's getting into? Give me a break."

"What are you saying, Miki?" one of the _gyaru's_ friends protested. "Sasaki-sempai's going places! I hear several of the big leagues have been scouting him out, what with that wicked arm of his…"

"His arm's not the only 'wicked' part of him…" another one of her friends insinuated, prompting another series of excited giggling. Mikasa just rolled her eyes and turned to head into the school.

"Oh he'll go places alright, baseball prodigy and all that," she said. "Kotori could still do better than him though."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" the _gyaru_ protested, following after Mikasa with her friends and Hitomi and her boyfriend in tow.

"You know what I mean."

"Hey, hey, you know those are just…"

The _gyaru_ broke off as several black Toyotas rolled up on the curb, and black-suited men with sunglasses stepped out to stand on the sidewalk, curtly-closing the doors behind them. Students and other pedestrians stopped walking to stare, though all made sure to keep a polite distance and to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

One of the men opened a passenger door of the Toyota in the middle of the convoy, and bowed respectfully as a young woman in a three-layer kimono elegantly stepped out. Whispering broke out among the audience, and unnoticed Mikasa's eyes narrowed as she focused on a small brooch pinned to the woman's kimono.

"You are Kotobuki Mikasa, are you not?" the woman said, approaching Mikasa.

"I am."

"I apologize for the intrusion." The woman said with a bow. "I am Yuko. And I have come at the behest of your uncle, Master Kyuichi, to extend an invitation with regard to a family matter of extreme importance."

"Is that so?" Mikasa neutrally said. "About that, what about my parents? My mom, no, my mother in particular, would be especially interested in this."

"Lady Riruko has been informed." Yuko said, reaching into her kimono and withdrawing a sealed letter, offered it to Mikasa. "Indeed, had you not left so early this morning – not that it is unjustified – we need not have come here. As things stand, Lady Riruko has sent this to answer your concerns."

"I see." Mikasa said, taking the letter and looking at it. After a moment, she pressed a finger against the seal and broke it with her spiritual energy – or her prana as westerners called it – and opened her (supposedly) mother's letter to read it. Well, the handwriting certainly was her mother's, as was the style of 'speaking', but…"

Mikasa paused, tapping a finger against her lips, and then pressed it against the characters written on the letter. And then sighing, she closed her eyes in resignation. It was genuine alright. "Alright," she said. "I understand. However, about the school…"

"Please leave that to us, Lady Mikasa." Yuko said with a bow. "It will all be taken care of."

Mikasa nodded, and allowed herself to be guided to the car. "Mikasa…" Hitomi said, taking a step forward, and flinching when one of the suited men took a step to her, only for the man to freeze in his turn at an icy glance from Mikasa. After a moment, she turned to Hitomi and smiled.

"It'll be fine, Hitomi." Mikasa said. "It's just private family business. And I'm sure that whatever it is, knowing my mom, it won't take long."

* * *

 _The Present Day_

"There's just one question bothering me…"

Tokiomi turned to Rin, as did the rest of the people sitting around the table. "Why now," Tokiomi eventually said. "Is it?"

Rin nodded. "Yes," she said. "I can understand to an extent why the Fujiwara Clan would delay their revenge. For one thing, the devastation of the country during the Second World War would have affected them as well, and not just in terms of economic hardships impacting their lifestyles. The political and social reorganization after the war…before the war, the Fujiwara held a great deal of political power, but these days…not so much."

"Basically," Shirou said. "They were busy…adjusting to the times."

Rin nodded. "Yes," she said. "And probably – along with the Imperial Family and other priestly clans – correcting the spiritual imbalance all the death and devastation of the war caused. Avenging their clan's honor might be important, but their primary responsibilities even more so. It'd only dishonor them more if they neglected those responsibilities no matter the reason."

"Agreed," Tokiomi said with a nod. "But once that was done, why didn't they take action? Why wait until now, decades after the last ruins of the war rebuilt?"

"Revenge is a dish best served cold?" Sakura put in.

There was a thoughtful silence for several moments, and then Tokiomi nodded slowly. "Possibly," he conceded. "Though it doesn't really answer Rin's question of 'why now'. However,"

"Father…?" Rin asked as Tokiomi fell silent for several long moments.

Finally, the man nodded. "I…think, I may have a theory, though it is heavily-based on assumption." He said. "A large portion of traditional _onmyoudou_ is tied up with divination."

Tokiomi paused, and then with a smile raised a hand to preempt Rin's incoming outburst. "Now I know what you're going to say," he said. "Divination or even precognition in any form is unreliable, and a waste of time, effort, and resources to consider trying much less counting on. But, considering the massive accumulated history behind the mysteries of the Fujiwara Clan – and their divine ancestry – we might have to take their divination more seriously than most others'."

Rin made a growling sound, but taking a deep breath gave a curt nod. "Point," she said. "Though, I have to say the Age of Gods is over. And no matter how much the Imperial Family and the Five Regent Families have concentrated their blood for nearly two thousand years, I still think the divine element is thinner than we think it is."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Sakura said. "Though, about the Age of Gods being over…it's not nearly as simple as that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rin asked, looking at Sakura.

"Belief plays a large role in Thaumaturgy." Sakura said. "It's the reason why the Seven Sacraments of the Holy Church are so stable, despite being – or because they're – so well-known worldwide. Here in Japan…well, Japanese in general still worship our ancient gods. And they've always been worshipped in this land. Simply put, the conceptual imprinting on the land from thousands of years of Japanese worship, the enduring rituals of native priests and priestesses, and the continued belief of the people…"

"The gods and goddesses of Japan aren't gone?" Rin interrupted. "Is that what you're trying to say?"

"To an extent, yes." Sakura said. "I'm not saying they can still…rule over things, as they used to in the Age of Gods. That's impossible. Not in this day and age. But…just like Christian miracles spontaneously happen, either out of the faith of their believers, or as performed by the Church's saints despite the Association's disapproval of such…public, demonstrations of the supernatural…"

"The Japanese pantheon," Tokiomi said with a nod. "Through their adherents' faith and through their champions and avatars, can still affect the World, much like the Christian God can, if more limited geographically?"

"Yes." Sakura said with a nod.

Rin hummed and crossed her arms over her chest in thought, and after several moments glanced at Tokiomi. Tokiomi just looked at her impassively, and after another moment she sighed. "I suppose it's a solid argument." She said. "If that's the case, then maybe…precognitive…mysteries, used by the Fujiwara Clan…told them now was the best time to strike. But if so, why?"

"Does it really matter?" Shirou suddenly asked.

"What?" Rin, Tokiomi, and Sakura asked at the same time, and causing the redheaded boy to get flustered.

"I-I mean, yeah knowing how and why is important, but…" he began before coughing to try and regain his composure. "Isn't what's really important the fact that Fujiwara thinks that now they have to strike? And are preparing to do just that? If that's the case, and they're trying to get us involved in this, shouldn't we instead be deciding on what to do?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Tokiomi burst out laughing, and then nodding, clapped his hands with genuine praise. "A practical call," he said. "True, compared to what really needs to be done, everything we've been discussing just now is all…academic."

"Academic it might be," Rin said. "But as magi we are obliged to look into every aspect of it. And the…context, of the present situation may need us to know _why_ they chose now to take action."

"Good points," Tokiomi admitted before turning to Shirou. "In any case, what do you think Shirou?"

Shirou didn't reply at once, and indeed, it would take a couple of minutes before the boy sighed and nodded glumly. "I don't like it." He said. "Revenge is pointless and stupid. Instead of getting all hung up over grudges and all that, it's better to move on and instead of wasting time on vengeance and things like that, use it to rebuild what was lost and do better than before."

Shirou paused and held up a hand. "Yes, I know." He said. "It's a very simple way of thinking, and it doesn't factor in things like saving face, setting precedents, and everything else. But that's my opinion on it."

"You are free to think and develop your own opinions, even if they are incorrect in some ways." Tokiomi said with a nod. "And?"

"If it's a matter of wanting," Shirou said unhappily. "I think we should stay out of this. But, we can't, can we? Uncle…your family was allied to the Matou for…about a century or so, wasn't it? You have to prove that you aren't anymore, and are sincere about moving on. I…I understand. So you need to help the Fujiwara. And for all the help you gave dad after the war, and for all the help you've given me since dad died, I'll help you too."

Tokiomi nodded. "What we want," he said. "And what we need, are two entirely different things."

He then turned to Rin. "Rin," he said. "As the next head of our family, what do you think? Clearly, we must support Fujiwara in what is to come, the context aside…for now at least. However, how should we communicate such a fact, and indeed, respond to their communication?"

Rin hummed, tapping her chin with a finger for several moments in thought. "First of all," she said. "We don't want to look too desperate. It'll only cause the Fujiwara to think of us as lacking self-respect, and thus less valuable as allies."

"What?" Shirou asked, and Rin turned to face him.

"People who have no respect for themselves have no respect for others." She said. "They're the kind of people who won't care what they'll look like, so long as everything comes out to their advantage."

Shirou blinked, and narrowed his eyes. "In short," he said. "If we come out looking like that, Fujiwara might think we could betray them the moment things start swinging the other way, is that it?"

"Yes." Rin said. "If that happens, then they'll either dismiss us as enemies from the very beginning, or they'll try and play along all the while readying the figurative knife to stab in our backs the moment we appear to be about to do so."

"That's…"

"Yeah, I know." Rin said with a small smile. "It's not a very pleasant outcome, either way. But, setting all that aside, do you really want to look desperate, like a beggar, before the Fujiwara Clan? I mean, yeah, we're trying to avoid getting seen as enemies, but still…"

"No, of course not." Shirou said. "Self-respect is a thing in itself, after all. Whether or not our families' histories are like…blinks of an eye, compared to Fujiwara, we're not criminals or monsters or anything of that sort either. Even as just ordinary, decent people, it's something worth being proud of!"

"Exactly," Rin said with a nod. "And that's why when responding to Fujiwara, we need to look the part."

Shirou nodded, followed by everyone else at the table. "Then," Tokiomi began. "Any ideas on how to do that, Rin?"

Rin thought again for a moment. "I do." She said. "First of all, we shouldn't ask to meet with Fujiwara directly, it would appear presumptuous. Instead, it would be better to ask to meet with their agents, to discuss…arrangements, on issues of common ground."

Tokiomi smiled. "Diplomatic…" he said. "Avoid mentioning what said issues are, until discussions actually begin, given both parties already know…go on."

"Finally," Rin said. "We should demonstrate our sincerity, and simultaneously ask Fujiwara to do the same, by inviting their agent to meet with us at a location of our choosing."

Tokiomi nodded several times in approval. "Very good," he said, and Rin all but preened at the praise. "Prepare a draft letter tonight, though you don't have to hand it in tonight. Tomorrow morning will be fine, and I'll look it over during the day."

"Yes, father."

Tokiomi nodded, and taking his coffee mug paused when he realized the coffee inside had gone cold. "I'll take the liberty then," he said with a glance at his wife, Aoi shrugging while a gem on Tokiomi's ring glowed and the coffee in the mug warmed. "Anyone else?"

There was a chorus of agreements, Aoi all but cheekily smiling at her husband as he warmed her coffee. "Oh dear me," Tokiomi said, glancing at a clock as he took a drink of coffee. "It's getting late. Shirou-kun, perhaps it might be best if you spent the night over."

"That's…I don't want to impose or anything…"

Tokiomi laughed. "It's nothing of the sort." He said. "I must insist, however. I would not have an accident – no matter how remote the chances – on my or my family's consciences if you left my house this late."

Shirou sighed and nodded. "Then," he said. "Thanks for the hospitality, uncle."

Tokiomi smiled and nodded, and raised his mug to his lips as a mischievous light came to his eyes. "I must take care of a potential son-in-law, after all." He said, smiling wider and sharing a laugh with Aoi at the embarrassed squawks from Shirou, Rin, and Sakura.

* * *

"Emiya-kun," Sakura began, knocking on the bathroom door before opening it and stepping inside, and ignoring the alarmed squawk from behind the shower curtain. "Mom said to bring you some fresh clothes."

A red-faced Shirou peered around the shower curtain, throwing a scandalized glare at Sakura. "I'm taking a bath here!" he protested.

Sakura responded with a deadpan expression. "Emiya-kun, no, Shirou," she said. "We used to take baths together when we were kids, remember? And it's not the first time either of us have walked in on each other, or for that matter, nee-san…"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

Sakura blinked, and then slowly smiled mischievously. "Oh I see, so that's how it is." She said, crossing her arms _under_ her breasts. "Got a little flustered over daddy's little bombshell earlier, didn't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shirou said, finally retreating behind the shower curtain.

"Sure you don't," Sakura said with a roll of her eyes, despite Shirou not being able to see it. "Though, it's kind of inevitable…you marrying one of us. Given how close our families are, well…you get the idea, a marriage to seal an alliance is kind of expected."

Shirou didn't reply, and after a moment, Sakura shrugged and turned back to the door. "Anyway," he said. "I've left your clothes on the dresser over here."

"Right, thanks." Shirou mumbled from behind the curtain, and causing Sakura to pause. She glanced once in Shirou's direction, and then smiled to herself.

"Don't get too flustered with me," she said. "Given the circumstances, it's likely you'll marry my sister. That way, you two can be co-heads of our families, and then you can have two kids who'll both be heirs, one to each family."

There was a pause, and then Shirou again peered from around the shower curtain. "What about you though?" she said.

Sakura just shrugged. "I don't know." She said. "Then again, some would say I get an easier deal. You know why, don't you?"

Shirou didn't say anything, and after a moment Sakura nodded and opened the door to leave. "Well, I'll be going." She said. "Don't take too long now."

"Yeah…"

Sakura stepped out, and closed the door behind her. Standing in silence for a while, she eventually sighed and turned to walk away, barely registering her sister leaning disapprovingly against one wall of the hallway. "That was a…rather, clumsy way of dealing with father's joke from earlier." Rin observed.

Sakura paused, looking at her in surprise. "Do you really think it was a joke, nee-sama?" Sakura asked.

Rin looked surprised. "You think it wasn't?" she asked.

"It's a logical reasoning, isn't it?" Sakura said. "What I told to Emiya-kun, that is. You were listening, weren't you?"

"I was." Rin admitted, briefly looking away. "But…yeah, it's logical but…"

"You don't need to hold back for my sake." Sakura said with a sad laugh. "And it's not like you don't like him either, is it?"

"I…I just…what about you?"

Sakura shrugged, and held up her right arm. "Well," she said. "I guess…it's similar, to the deal that came with getting this number of circuits from the crest. Find my own path, or something like it."

Rin couldn't say anything, and after a moment Sakura nodded and made to leave. "Well then," she said. "I still have some schoolwork to do."

"Y-yeah…"

* * *

"Is it really alright," Aoi asked, as she helped her husband into bed. "Getting involved with this Fujiwara affair?"

"You know we don't really have a choice." Tokiomi said with a sigh. "And you also know, even if I don't say it, that if I had the choice I would love nothing more than to wash my hands of this matter. If we could just stand aside, and just look on from a safe distance as Matou are made examples of by the Fujiwara, I'd take it."

Aoi stared at her husband for a couple of moments, and then sighing nodded. "I know." She said. "But I still needed to hear it."

Tokiomi smiled and raising a hand caressed Aoi's cheek. "It's alright," he said. "I understand. There's no need to be ashamed. It only comes with being Human."

Aoi smiled and leaned into her husband's hand. "There was a time once," she said. "When you would never have said that, and if the you from back then could have seen and heard you as you are now…"

"…I'd think I've become such a disappointment." Tokiomi finished, before sharing a laugh with Aoi. "So you've said in the past. And as I've said in response before, one way or another, change comes with the passing of time, and people must adapt to those changes, or be destroyed by them."

For a moment, Tokiomi's eyes turned distant and sad, and then closing them a brief flicker of tightly-controlled fear crossed his face. "Tokiomi?" Aoi asked.

Tokiomi opened his eyes and smiled at her. "It's alright," he said. "Just…a memory, from ten years ago. And something I hope, no, _I know_ my children will never ever see. Kiritsugu took good care of that."

"I…I see."

Aoi took a deep breath, and then pushed the wheelchair away. "Well then," she said. "I'll just go and freshen up a bit, and then I'll come to bed, alright?"

Tokiomi nodded, and with a nod of her own Aoi walked off. Taking a deep breath, Tokiomi relaxed on his bed, and closing his eyes placed an arm over his face. As he did so, the memories returned, of lying prone against the ground amidst a burning, ruined building, and staring up at a haggard Kiritsugu, gun pointed down at Tokiomi.

 _Will you kill me?_

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _Emiya…Kiritsugu Emiya…! You…you did the right thing…and I think I know what you plan to do! I too know it must be done, but…the price…the Grail…all the energy that's gone into it…it has to go someplace!_

 _…_

 _You should know at least…what will happen when you do this…and don't worry about me…I…I'll manage somehow…now go! Go before it's too late! Go! Don't hesitate! Do what you have to do, Magus Killer! Finish what you started! GO DAMN YOU!_

Tokiomi sighed, and opened his eyes while letting his arm fall to his side. "Kiritsugu…Emiya…" he murmured. "You were so much stronger than I am…as a fighter…and as someone who stood alone in the dark…what would you do in my place, here and now?"

* * *

Shirou yawned and then coughed immediately. "Sorry, uncle." He said.

Tokiomi just chuckled as Shirou helped him down the ramp that had been installed along one side of the mansion staircase after his crippling injury during the Fourth Holy Grail War. "Why Shirou-kun," he said. "I didn't know I was boring you by my mere presence."

Shirou grew even more flustered, and Tokiomi laughed again. "No, it's fine." He said. "I was just joking. I assume though you were sleeping up late studying your notes from the previous day's classes?"

"Eh, something like that…"

"Oh?" Tokiomi asked curiously. "So what were you doing instead, that it seems you're still a bit sleepy?"

"That's...since I didn't have any of the notes on your past lectures with me, I decided to, well, have a look at the library." Shirou said a bit nervously.

Tokiomi nodded a few times. "I see." He said. "There's no need to be nervous. I did say you were welcome to peruse the library, so long as you didn't take any material from the house without permission, and you cleaned up after yourself. I assume then that you lost track of time?"

"Yeah," Shirou said with a flustered laugh as he helped Tokiomi into his wheelchair. "I found a really good book about alchemy. I can't quite remember the title, but I kind of got…how to say this…"

"Entranced?" Tokiomi offered.

"Something like that," Shirou said with an embarrassed smile. "It had a couple of interesting chapters about the different properties of metal, on their own or alloyed with each other, how they changed or stayed the same depending on how they were worked, and well, before I knew it…"

"It was past midnight." Tokiomi said with laugh.

Shirou laughed. "Not quite," he said. "But close…I'd say a quarter or so before."

Tokiomi nodded. "I see." He said. "And? Did you understand?"

Shirou laughed nervously. "I think I did." He said. "Though, I'm not confident about passing an exam or anything like that about the subject."

"I see." Tokiomi said with a smile. "In that case, I think an exam is in order."

"U-uncle!"

Tokiomi laughed. "I was just joking, Shirou-kun." He said. "And I think I know what book or at least from what section you were reading from. A bit advanced for your level, but nothing too advanced. And it certainly suits your specialization."

"It does, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does."

Tokiomi didn't say anything more, though he certainly kept thinking on it as Shirou pushed his wheelchair to the dining room. Shirou's…limitations, meant that a lot of what Tokiomi taught him about magecraft was essentially just a matter of building up stock knowledge – which wasn't exactly useless in any case – but some were quite useful, so long as the skills needed to apply them fell within his limitations, or specialization, rather.

Shirou paused as they arrived at the dining room, and opening the doors first was helped by Sakura keep them open so Shirou could push Tokiomi in. Tokiomi nodded his thanks at his daughter, who nodded back before returning to setting the table and vanishing into the kitchens to help her mother prepare breakfast.

Rin though, was seated at the table. There was a sheet of paper before her, the draft of the reply to be sent to the Fujiwara Clan, no doubt. The girl was also rubbing at her right arm nervously, though that was to be expected.

It wasn't every day that you were expected to prepare correspondence with an ancient bloodline, given how precious few they were, be it from east or west. "Here we go, uncle." Shirou said, helping Tokiomi into his seat, and wheeled the wheelchair away.

"Thank you, Shirou-kun."

"No problem." Shirou said. "Do you want some coffee, or something?"

"Hmm…yes, that's fine. Black coffee."

"Right away!"

Shirou hurried off, and Tokiomi turned to Rin. "Good morning." Rin said.

"Good morning, Rin." Tokiomi said, and Rin offered the draft, which Tokiomi took with a nod.

"I tried to be straight to the point, but without being brusque about it." She said. "Likewise, I also didn't want to seem too flattering either. That could be taken the wrong way, and in more ways than one."

"Hmm," Tokiomi mused, reading through the letter once. It was…satisfactory, for a first draft, though he wouldn't want to send it as it was to the Fujiwara Clan. Still, there was no need to rush there, or when it came to to critiquing the draft either. He'd have the whole day for the latter, in any case, though he preferred to have the reply sent to Tokyo within the week if possible.

"I'll give it back to you for revisions this evening." Tokiomi said, folding the paper and sliding it into a pocket. "But, it's a good start. Well done."

"Thank you." Rin said with a warm smile, and Tokiomi smiled back. For a while they sat in silence, but after several moments he noticed how Rin kept rubbing at her right arm nervously. And it wasn't just her arm, every so often she seemed to be biting her lip, and her eyes seemed…distracted for some reason.

 _Is something worrying her? More than the Fujiwara matter?_

"What's wrong?" Tokiomi asked. "You seem distracted, worried even?"

"Huh…oh I uh…" Rin fumbled before sighing and drawing herself up. "Father…are you…are you really sure the Holy Grail Wars only take place every fifty years?"

"Yes, of course I am." Tokiomi answered, confused and wrong-footed by such a _non sequitur_. "It takes that long to gather enough mana from the land to support the summoning of Servants. Why do you ask?"

Rin hesitated for a couple of moments, and then leaned forwards across the table. "When I woke up this morning," she said, pulling her right sleeve back. " _These_ were on my arm. And I've checked: they're genuine."

Tokiomi could say nothing. He could just stare, wide-eyed with surprise, shock, horror, and denial, touch and examine and realize with shaking fingers the authenticity of three concentric circles branded, tattoo-like, on his daughter's arm.

 _No…NO, NO, NO… **NO!**_

* * *

A/N

Yes, he's certainly mellowed out, hasn't he? Tokiomi that is.

Yes, Sakura did receive a part of the Tohsaka Crest here. Crests can actually be divided, like how Kiri received a fifth of the Emiya Crest thanks to Natalia or whatever her name was' intervention with the Association. _El-Melloi Case Files_ also mentions that's how European magi family make branch families, by giving away crest fragments and binding the new branches to themselves through a combination of gratitude from the recipients, and a certain degree of control the main family retains over the recipients' magecraft.

Since Tokiomi hasn't sent her away to adoption as heir to another family (Matou would never be considered here lest his own parents actually rise from the grave in disgust), he might as well have her be a branch member.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Shadow of the Wisteria Blossoms

Chapter 3

"He didn't let it show," Sakura observed as she and Rin worked on the paperwork in the latter's office at school, doing what they could before the first period began. "But father was rather agitated at breakfast, no matter what he said about us putting off talking about the coming Holy Grail War for later."

"Of course he didn't let it show." Rin said while working on a series of forms in triplicate. "That'd be unbecoming. Also, what's the point? Will ranting and wailing about it solve the problem? No, of course it won't. Instead of wasting time and effort, better to stay calm, think things over at length, and prepare a solution."

Sakura stayed silent, and after several moments Rin sighed, and finishing the set of forms set them aside before sitting back. "Though," she said, folding her hands in front of her. "It's understandable why father would be so agitated. You understand why, don't you?"

Sakura nodded in silence. "The Holy Grail is an incredibly complex system." Rin continued. "Its functions and components exist in a delicate balance with each other, with even the single variable out of line potentially having critical consequences. And there's the fact the reason Heaven's Feel is held every fifty years is because it takes that long to gather enough mana for the ritual…"

Rin paused and laughed. "Ten years…" she said, half-turning her chair away before rising to walk to and look out of the window. "In ten years there's enough energy already to perform the ritual to use the Grail once again. Considering just…just how insane a divergence that is for a complex system like the Holy Grail, I strongly doubt just one variable is off with the whole thing."

"You don't seem particularly enthusiastic." Sakura observed.

"Should I be?" Rin asked.

"I don't know." Sakura said after a moment. "Though, normally you'd be jumping at the chance to prove yourself worthy as the heiress of the – main – Tohsaka family. Victory in the Holy Grail War, something that has eluded us for over a century…isn't that such a chance?"

"Guess I can't deny that," Rin said with a shrug and a smile, though the latter quickly fell. "But, this chance may not be what it looks like. The Grail's…divergence from normality is already a big…sign, that something has gone terribly wrong."

Sakura nodded once, her eyes narrowing. "True," she said. "As you said, delicate things like Grand Rituals – which Heaven's Feel is an example of – are supposed to proceed according to predetermined patterns, even if the outcome may be left in the air. If they don't then either something has gone wrong, or will soon."

"Or both," Rin said grimly, before turning and returning to her desk. "But even though we know all that, we can't really avoid participating, can we?"

"No, we can't." Sakura agreed. "We can't sit it out, since as one of the founding families we're guaranteed a spot, and everyone knows that. If we don't summon a Servant, we'd be left vulnerable to enemy attack, even if only because other Masters will assume we're involved regardless of whether or not we actually are. And why wouldn't they assume? Why would magi ignore the opportunity offered by Heaven's Feel?"

"Well, we could always take a vacation out of the city if we want to sit the war out." Rin said.

"Is that really an option?" Sakura asked with an uncertain laugh.

"If we wanted to ignore and endure the loss of face," Rin said with a small smile. "It is. And I think father would consider that option for a while. After all, he was nearly killed during the last Holy Grail War, and even then he suffered critical injuries, didn't he?"

Sakura's face fell, and after a moment and briefly looking away, she nodded in thought. "Of course," Rin said, taking her seat again. "Given I was the one granted command spells, knowing father he'd leave the choice to me."

"And what will you choose?" Sakura asked.

"Father would probably prefer I choose not to participate." Rin said without hesitation. "And I'm very tempted not to. The Holy Grail War…people die there. It's a war after all. A competition between magi…"

"Nee-sama…"

Rin sat back in her seat, eyes fixed on the ceiling. "I don't want to make our parents cry. I don't want you to shoulder the burden that comes with being family head." She said, closing her eyes. "But the magus in me…she's telling to stop being such a sentimental fool."

Sakura didn't say anything, and for several more moments Rin stayed silent. "It worries me more, you know." She said, keeping her eyes closed. "How our greed at the opportunity that presents itself to us, blinds us to the all-too-large possibility of disaster that comes with a Grand Ritual going wrong. And I understand why. You do too, don't you?"

"Yes, yes I do." Sakura said softly. "It's a blindness born of ignoring or defying the possibility of death or worse that comes with even the most basic mysteries going wrong, a way of thinking taught to us and made a part of our being the moment we begin out training as magi."

"Precisely," Rin said, opening her eyes with a sigh, and sitting normally. "It's ironic, that from a purely objective perspective, a perspective magi are supposed have, our…blindness, is foolish in the extreme. And yet, we encourage it among ourselves."

"Nee-sama…"

Rin sighed again. "I just hope in this case it won't end up destroying us all, especially if Heaven's Feel goes wrong, like it did during the previous war." She said.

Sakura nodded grimly, knowing as Rin did that at the conclusion of the previous Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail had _exploded_ , and set off a fire that would take half the city with it. Why it had exploded was not known, and while Kiritsugu Emiya and Tokiomi Tohsaka had been close to the epicenter when it did, even they could offer little information, understandably focused at the time on just staying alive, and before that fighting each other in what had been the last battle of the Fourth Holy Grail War. That would ultimately lead to the conclusion that the Grail had somehow malfunctioned, resulting in what would be known as the Fuyuki Great Fire.

 _The Grail's already malfunctioned – and catastrophically at that – once before, and it is again with the next Heaven's Feel starting forty years early…_

 _…and no one cares! There…there has to be something wrong with that…_

"Do you think," Sakura began, jolting Rin out of her musings. "That Fujiwara taking action here and now, is connected to all this?"

Rin's eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed in suspicion.

"That's…a very good point…"

* * *

Tokiomi sat alone in his workshop, holding his head in his hands. He remembered the climax of the previous Holy Grail War, of lying helplessly on the ground, staring at the weapon in Kiritsugu Emiya's hand, aimed at his head.

He remembered the resolution, his resolution, to neither flinch from death nor to beg for life. He had been a magus for as long as he could remember, risking life, limb, soul and sanity all for his family's legacy long before the war began, and the risks it brought had been nothing new to him.

And they should not and would not have been for the other participants, magus and spell-caster alike. Even the untested boy who would later become the great and mighty Lord El-Melloi II had been no exception in that regard.

Everyone had entered the contest prepared to lose their lives or worse, and to take those of others. He had not expected otherwise of them, and was certain they expected no less of him. And he had had no intention of dishonoring them or himself, magi and spell-caster alike, who had placed everything on the line for the promised prize.

It should have ended then and there, between himself and the last other Master still in the war, but…

…but…

…but…

 _"…there are two ships, one of which has fifty people aboard, while the other has forty-nine…both ships are leaking and will sink in one hour…Kiritsugu Emiya can repair the leak but only has enough time for one, and he is aboard the ship with forty-nine people…"_

 _"…now, what would Kiritsugu Emiya do?"_

 _"…two boats, one of which has twenty-six people aboard, and the other has twenty-four…both boats are leaking and will sink in one hour…Kiritsugu Emiya can repair the leak but only has enough time for one, and he is aboard the boat with twenty-four people…"_

 _"…now, what would Kiritsugu Emiya do?"_

 _"That's wrong! The logic is messed up! That's not how it's supposed to…!"_

 _"…now, what would Kiritsugu Emiya do?"_

 _"The Holy Grail will grant your wish. All you must do is offer up your desire."_

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _"Daddy loves you very much, Illya. If nothing else, I swear that's the truth."_

Tokiomi gasped, eyes going wide as he jolted back, only the brakes on his wheelchair keeping him rolling away from his desk. For a few moments, he sat upright, breathing heavily, and then slumping forward on his elbows, clutched his hands against his forehead.

"You truly were something else, Kiritsugu Emiya." Tokiomi whispered, remembering how he had been made to watch until the very end, in the grasp of a… **thing** , that had taken Kiritsugu's, or indeed, any victor of the Holy Grail War's desire, and perverted it in the worst possible fashion.

Only the sacrifice of the bravest man he had ever known had kept… **it** , from succeeding. But, the cost. And more than that…

 _"D-darling…w-why…why do you refuse us…us…and…the Grail?"_

 _"Six billion people…the two members of my family…I…I…I…I will kill you…and save the world!"_

"If…if…" Tokiomi murmured. "If I had been in your place…could I…could I…"

Tokiomi closed his eyes, and remembered Kiritsugu's daughter falling, her head a mangled ruin. He remembered the man's tears, his choked defiance of that which had corrupted and defiled the Grail and his wife alike, the image of that same wife cursing him to a tortured existence as he crushed her neck.

"…could I have done it? Could I have done as you did, and sacrifice everything I hold dear, for all the world?"

* * *

"What?" Shirou asked in surprise, as he ate lunch with Rin and Sakura. "You think Fujiwara chose now to take action, because of the Fifth Holy Grail War?"

"You don't think so?" Rin asked.

Shirou didn't reply at once, instead thinking things over for a moment before continuing. "If that was the case," he said. "Why didn't they take action ten year ago, during the Fourth Holy Grail War?"

"Good point," Rin conceded with a nod. "I could say it's because they weren't ready or didn't see it coming…but that's stupid. Heaven's Feel is – until now that is – a regular thing, happening once every fifty years. So they'd know it was coming, and it couldn't be they weren't ready either, as Fujiwara's resources are vast. They'd have been ready ahead of time."

"Maybe they didn't receive command spells?" Sakura offered.

"Also possible," Rin admitted. "And that could be it…"

"But you don't think so." Shirou prompted as Rin trailed off.

"It could be it…" Rin hesitantly repeated. "And…they didn't think…their divinations…didn't say it was the right time. Or it could be something else entirely."

Shirou and Sakura looked at each other, and then back at Rin. After a few moments Rin sighed, and shook her head. "Why they didn't ten years ago is academic anyway," she said. "More important is that they're probably participating in this war. Or even if they're not, they'll probably ask us to be their proxies."

"That's…"

"It's the perfect way for us to prove our loyalty or submission to proper authority, isn't it?" Rin continued. "Though, they might attach an agent with us in that case, to observe our performance and represent their interests."

"Put another way," Sakura said. "A spy. They don't really trust us in that case, do they?"

"Understandable," Rin said with a nod. "Up until the third Heaven's Feel, we were allies with Matou, and had been for about a century or so. We cooperated on founding the Heaven's Feel, and allowed to them settle on our territory. Even if we had severed ties, our past history, and the fact that we allowed Matou to remain on our territory – no matter that grandfather managed to reach an understanding with Fujiwara at the time on that matter – means we need to prove ourselves, no matter how…insulting, it might seem."

Sakura and Shirou again looked at each other. "If they actually participate in the war," Shirou began. "About the Grail…"

Rin sighed and shook her head. "I don't know." She said. "There can only be one victor after all. The normal meaning of that aside, well, the Grail will only accept and grant one Master and their Servant's wish. No more, and no less."

"It's going to be a…lively, discussion with Fujiwara's representatives that's for sure." Sakura remarked. "Whether or not they'll actually be participating."

Rin nodded unhappily, and sighing leaned back to look up at the sky. " _Fujiwara…_ " she thought. " _Whether they actually participate or not…whether they want the Grail or not…their goals are actually quite obvious. The Matou have coveted the Grail for nearly two centuries…just like us and Einzbern. And Fujiwara knows this._ "

Rin sighed again, and returned to her lunch. " _It won't be enough for them to simply make examples of the Matou._ " she said. " _No, before Matou are made into examples, Fujiwara will take everything Matou has, what they have always sought to gain, and leave them with nothing, broken and humiliated. Then and only then will Fujiwara make examples of them._ "

* * *

A knock on the door drew Tokiomi back to reality, and sitting up he took his glasses off. "Enter," he said, and a moment later the door into the workshop opened, the bounded fields parting and flowing welcomingly around Aoi as she entered. In her hands she held a tray on which was a plate with a pair of sandwiches, a bowl of hot soup, and silverware on clean cloth.

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Aoi said politely as she went to a table in the middle of the room, and placed the tray down on it. "But, here's your lunch."

Tokiomi smiled and nodded, glancing once at a clock as he did so. "And once again," he said. "It seems I've lost track of time. My apologies."

"It's fine," Aoi said. "It comes with the job, doesn't it? Still, don't push yourself, alright?"

Tokiomi nodded, beginning to roll his wheelchair over to the table before Aoi came over and helped him to the table. "Well then," she said, preparing to leave. "Is there anything in particular that you'd like to drink?"

"Cold water will be fine."

"Alright then," Aoi said with a nod. "I'll be back."

Tokiomi nodded back, and turning away Aoi strode out of the workshop. Turning back to his lunch, Tokiomi took and savored a few spoons of hot soup, before taking one of the sandwiches and biting into it. As he chewed at his food, he sat back, and glanced once at a calendar hanging on a wall.

" _Even if the war is early,_ " he thought as he swallowed and bit into his sandwich again. " _Given the timing of Rin receiving her command spells, the war will begin and be conducted when it usually is, in late winter, just before spring. That gives me a month. One month, to prepare for a war…_ "

Tokiomi paused, chewing slowly before swallowing. Looking down for several moments, as though weighed down by a mountain on his shoulders, he slowly raised the sandwich in his hand and forced himself to continue eating.

 _Rin…can…can I really ask her… **allow her** to participate in a contest that has absolutely no meaning whatsoever?_

But even as the thought was completed, Tokiomi knew the choice was out of his hands. Rin may prefer not to participate – not that she would say it but he knew his daughter even if she didn't say anything – but she would. Her pride as a magus would not allow her to sit it out.

Movement drew his attention, and Tokiomi turned his head to see Aoi return with a glass and a pitcher of cold water, the glass of the latter frosted from the cold. Tokiomi nodded his thanks as Aoi placed the glass and pitcher down, and poured him a drink.

"Thank you." Tokiomi said, taking the offered glass and taking a drink. Setting it down on the tray, he turned back to Aoi, who'd stepped back and was now just looking at him.

There was nothing expectant about it, just a wife being properly attentive to her husband, but…given his concerns…

…there were so many things he wanted to say. Things she might not admit she wanted to hear, but he was sure that deep down, she did. And which he wanted to say to her, but could not.

He wanted to say that he was sorry that it had come to this.

He wanted to say that he could have given her and their children a more peaceful and less burdensome life.

He wanted to say that he could do something, and have their family avoid the turmoil and upheaval to come.

But he couldn't say anything, and could only return her gaze with the faintest hint of sadness, regret, and apology on his face. And despite the complete lack of words, she understood, giving him a sad smile that mirrored all the emotions he felt and accepted and understood them.

"I have other things to do." She said with a sigh. "So, I'll come back for the tray later, alright?"

Tokiomi nodded, and with a nod of her own, Aoi left. Alone, Tokiomi finished his first sandwich before returning to his soup. " _So,_ " he thought. " _No way to avoid this war. And one way or another, whether as their proxies or as their allies, we'll stand with Fujiwara as they punish Matou for their impudence. And I only have one month to prepare Rin for what is to come._ "

Finishing his soup, Tokiomi sighed and sat back. " _One month…_ " he thought. " _I wonder…no, that'll barely be enough time to secure a proper catalyst. Well I suppose…no…no, absolutely not. Rin **could** control the King of Heroes, but considering all the secrets this war has, he's not the best choice._"

Humming to himself, Tokiomi stroked his chin, narrowing his eyes. " _Well,_ " he thought. " _We could always use that…and come to think of it, she'd certainly be more suitable compared to the King of Heroes given the delicate touch needed to manage this potential disaster._ "

Sitting up, Tokiomi sighed, and taking a drink of water first he took the second sandwich and began to eat. As he did so, he remembered.

 _"These maps are accurate?"_

 _"My friend, my family are the supervisors of this territory. Of course these maps are accurate."_

 _Tokiomi and Kiritsugu were in the Tohsaka workshop, poring over maps of Fuyuki City. One was a regular geological map, while the other was a more esoteric document, outlining the ley-lines which ran through the land, and pinpointing key points in the territory. Reference materials were stacked to one side of the two men, who faced each other across the table._

 _Kiritsugu chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that." He said. "In any case, this is a big help."_

 _"Oh I'm sure that even without my help you'd have figured it out eventually." Tokiomi said with a nod and a smile._

 _Kiritsugu didn't reply at once. "Maybe," he finally said after a few moments. "But then again, I couldn't do what I'd once have been able to do in my sleep…"_

 _The man's fists clenched as he spoke, and Tokiomi slightly lowered his face. After several moments, Kiritsugu sighed, and opened his hands. "Forgive me," Tokiomi said softly. "I truly wish I could be of more help."_

 _"It's not your fault." Kiritsugu said, giving his host a small smile. "And it's not like you could do much, because unfortunately, law and custom isn't on our side, and as someone with rank, you have to set an example, am I right?"_

 _Tokiomi nodded slowly. "Even so, I…" he began only to trail off. After a moment Kiritsugu nodded, and then picking up a grease pencil, turned back to the maps._

 _For the next hour and a half Kiritsugu and Tokiomi pored over the maps and reference materials, jotting down notes on sheets of scratch paper, and marking down points across the city along the ley-lines which ran through the territory. Finally, Kiritsugu shared a nod with Tokiomi and looked down at the finished plan of action they'd prepared between them._

 _"With this," he said. "We can keep that… **thing** , from ever having another chance."_

 _"The ley-lines will be shifted," Tokiomi said with another nod. "And without them, the Grail will be unable to gather enough mana for another Heaven's Feel ritual to be conducted with. In short, we'd starve it into oblivion."_

 _Kiritsugu nodded again, but Tokiomi sighed. Narrowing his eyes at Mount Enzo, he reached forward and tapped it few times. "Still," he began. "I'd be happier if we could go in ourselves, and take the mechanisms apart, thus making sure with our own hands that the Grail and that abomination which has defiled it can never rise again. But in our current states…"_

 _Kiritsugu nodded as Tokiomi sighed again. "This is the best we can do." The former said. "And we'll have to settle for it."_

 _"When she's old enough," Tokiomi said after a few moments. "I'll tell her. I'll tell her about the mockery our family's legacy has become, and everything we've done to take responsibility when no one else could, or would. And why would they? Apart from our words, there's no proof. And without proof…"_

 _Tokiomi trailed off, but Kiritsugu nodded in agreement. The two stayed silent for several moments, and then Kiritsugu sighed. "Will she understand?" he asked._

 _"She will." Tokiomi said, before closing his eyes. "I believe she will. And I believe that she'll finish what we started, and make sure the evil in the Grail will never see the light of day for good."_

 _Kiritsugu was silent, but after a few moments he took a deep breath. "Then," he said. "If you'll believe in your daughter, I will too. I believe in my son too after all, so, how can I really speak against you doing the same?"_

 _Tokiomi nodded, and then with another sigh Kiritsugu began gathering the final notes on their plans, and rolled up the annotated map they'd worked on. "Right then," he said. "I'll make the necessary preparations, and then get to it."_

 _"Of course," Tokiomi said with a nod. "With that said, be careful."_

 _Kiritsugu paused and glanced at Tokiomi, who held his gaze. "I know you don't have much time left." Tokiomi said. "But even so, what time you have, for Shirou-kun's sake…"_

 _Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes as Tokiomi trailed off, but after a moment Kiritsugu set his face in resolve, and nodded back. "I know." He said. "And I will. Thank you."_

 _"You're welcome."_

Tokiomi sighed as he remembered how he and Kiritsugu had conspired and acted to starve the Grail and what it contained of the mana it needed to function, but how could they possibly have foreseen that the next Holy Grail War would have started forty years early? And how could they?

And how could it have started so soon?

Finishing his sandwich, Tokiomi sat back in his wheelchair, and smiled sadly in apology. " _Kiritsugu my friend,_ " he thought. " _I'm sorry. We did what we could, but sadly it wasn't enough. Our children…will have to take on the burden, far earlier and with less preparation than they should have._ "

* * *

"Figures,"

Shirou blinked and glanced in the voice's direction, spotting a brown-haired girl leaning with a smile against the classroom's doorframe. "Hey, Mitsuzuri," Shirou said, smiling at the girl before returning to the task of cleaning the classroom up.

"Oh, it's just 'hey' now, is it?" Ayako Mitsuzuri said, and stepping further into the classroom.

"Yes, yes," Shirou said. "Good afternoon, then."

"Better," Ayako said with a smirk, and sitting on top of one of the desks. "Honestly, you really won't stop will you?"

"What?"

"Doing others' chores for them?"

Shirou shrugged. "What can I say?" he said. "I like to help in any way I can."

"Sure you do," Ayako said with a laugh. "No matter how much we've grown up, you're still the same as you were from when we first met way back when."

"Is that so bad?"

"Hmm," Ayako hummed before shrugging. "Not really, I guess. Only when taken too far."

"Well, don't you worry about it then," Shirou said. "I know better than to go too far. Well, at least I think I do."

Ayako glanced curiously at him, and Shirou blinked before giving a nervous laugh. "No," he said. "It's just that I don't think helping others can be wrong in any way, but at the same time, I know I'm not really helping anybody if it results in me needing help myself. If that's the case, then…"

"Then it means the people you helped become responsible for putting you in a tight spot." Ayako said with a nod. "Well, well, looks like we can get things through that thick skull of yours."

Shirou made a protesting yelp, and Ayako giggled as he glared reproachfully at her. "Hey," she began, hopping off the table to lean in towards him with her hands behind her. " _Kyuudo_ practice ended early today, so I have some free time. So tell you what, I'll help you finish up here, and then you come with me for a snack, alright? I know this really good coffee shop downtown, so…"

"Well, I uh…"

"Oh? Errands to run for the Tohsaka sisters? How strange…I asked Sakura earlier during practice and she said you were free…at least until I came here and saw you cleaning up when it isn't supposed to be your duty today."

Shirou made an uncomfortable noise, but as Ayako leaned in again, smiling invitingly, Shirou sighed. "Alright, alright," he said. "It's not like I've got anything else to do anyway, and I'm off my part-time until the day after tomorrow."

"That's great!" Ayako said with a grin, straightening up before turning and striding off. "Right then, I'll go get what I need to help you with, and once we finish it's a date!"

"Yeah, yeah, wait, what?"

* * *

A/N

Reactions to the news of the impending war, some flashbacks (featuring _Kiri_ of all people), and a touch of normality at the end. I hope you enjoy, it was very traumatizing watching Kiri kill Illya again (technically it was an illusion but still), I having to watch that episode just to get a good feel of the context for use in the flashback. I mean yeah, we've seen her die in UBW, but for obvious reasons, seeing Illya get shot by her own father after he tells her he loves her and while embracing her, is a lot more traumatic than getting killed by an enemy on the battlefield.


End file.
